Diagrids are advanced framing systems composed of diagonal steel grids. Developed a decade ago for spectacular buildings like the Swiss Re (?the Gherkin?) in London, diagrid structures connect a breathtaking appearance with tangible advantages: a massive reduction in material use, a gain of available floor surface area and more flexibility. For the... more...

A path out of the technological and economical excesses in contemporary architecture: A book on research and education in architecture and information technology, conceived of as philosophical interplay between two species similar in kind. Neither of them is in the least disciplinal: both affect everything, both are arts of structuring.... more...

Gathering his most compelling essays and addresses from the last fifty years in one accessible volume, this book looks at the pioneering ideas that underpin Sim Van der Ryn?s ecological design philosophy. It offers a unique decade-by-decade retrospective of the key issues in environmental design, beginning with the most recent years and looking back... more...

John Izbicki has an exciting story to tell. Berlin-born, he lived through the horrors of Nazi persecution and, on the day after his eighth birthday, he witnessed the Kristallnacht, and the smashing of his parents' shop windows. On the day Germany invaded Poland and Berlin experienced its first wartime blackout, the Izbickis escaped to Holland and from... more...

Driving Desired Futures addresses the question how do individuals in social systems achieve credibility for new ideas? What are the criteria that render the comprehension of new ideas more likely within a group of people with diverse sets of beliefs? What triggers management?s attention to allocate resources to the development of new... more...

Architect and social critic Michael Sorkin develops his own vision of the future lower Manhattan through a series of chronologically organized essays illustrated with full-color images of his own plans. Mixing his inimitable brand of social criticism with more personal reflections, Starting From Zero offers a striving challenge to the Ground Zero... more...

Royal Barry Wills was the founder and namesake of one of America?s most famous architecture firms. Now run by his son, Richard Wills, the Boston firm has been designing elegant private homes in the Colonial New England tradition for over 85 years. This fully illustrated, handsome book features examples of the firm?s work from the beginning to the... more...

Although relatively unknown in modern day San Antonio, John H. Kampmann was an imposing force during his lifetime (1819-1885). Professor Maggie Valentine explores the lasting legacy Kampmann had on the city. Valentine traces his life from his move to Texas, his involvement in the Civil War (he later received a presidential pardon... more...